Yeremia Sukoyo & Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Nusa Dua, Bali – Using his control of the party's 33 provincial branches, Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie managed to shut down his opponents, sideline them and push his way to organize the party's national congress in Bali, that will likely re-elect him.
As the party's congress kicked off on Sunday to choose a chairman on Monday or Tuesday, Aburizal's candidacy received a further boost when M.S. Hidayat, a senior and strong candidate to challenge him, announced his withdrawal from the race, and instead expressed his full support for the incumbent.
Last week, all chairs of the provincial branches met and declared their support for Aburizal. Aburizal said on Sunday that he was supported by all the provincial branches and three quarters of the more than 500 district and city branches.
"They voluntarily support me," he said, dismissing accusations that he paid for their support and intimidated some of the branch officials.
Besides support from provincial chairs, most of the party's senior and influential politicians, including Akbar Tandjung, former chairman and now chief patron, and Theo Sambuaga, deputy chairman, are still behind Aburizal.
"Support for Aburizal is real. There is no intimidation or bribery," Theo said. Akbar, meanwhile, gave his blessing for the Bali congress, and was in attendance at the venue for the opening.
Hidayat, a former industry minister, who was mentioned as Aburizal's likely replacement, said he withdrew from the race because Aburizal promised him to build the party and that he would not seek to run for presidenct in 2019.
"I met with my supporters and they agreed that I withdraw, and together, we will support Aburizal," Hidayat said.
"I am willing to withdraw myself because Pak Aburizal promised me to concentrate on building the party instead of using his position to run for the presidency. We will look for another figure for Golkar's presidential candidate for 2019," he said.
Hidayat said he could not guarantee that Aburizal would keep his promise, but added that he mentioned Aburizal's promise to the media so that the public knew.
Hidayat's withdrawal means Aburizal will face the relatively unknown Airlangga Hartarto as his competitor because the other four candidates, including Agung Laksono, former coordinating minister for people's welfare, and Priyo Budi Santoso, a former House of Representatives deputy speaker, refused to acknowledge the congress in Bali, and instead are preparing a competing congress for January.
The party was split ahead of the Bali congress, which takes place from Sunday to Wednesday.
The party is set to pick a chairman, but an internal leadership dispute – revolving mainly around the incumbent chairman Aburizal's wish to run for a second term – has already led to violent clashes. The dispute reached its peak on Tuesday last week as the party leaders discussed preparations for the Bali convention.
Fistfights broke out between Aburizal supporters and his opponents. The incident came on the same day Aburizal's deputy Agung Laksono pushed for a vote of no confidence against Aburizal's reign, airing suspicions on why the party chairman decided to move the congress two months ahead of schedule.
Golkar politicians critical of Aburizal said last Wednesday that he had unilaterally changed the rules for this week's convention, voiding all support garnered by seven other chairman hopefuls.
Aburizal, his critics suspect, is trying to secure re-election through consensus instead of an open vote, which he might lose, by issuing instructions to provincial and district level chapter leaders to support him as well as airing threats of dismissal to those not loyal to him.
Agung announced his camp will stage their own shadow convention on Jan. 15.